Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL AND ACTIVITIES: LA MAREA
To reach the community, contact the chief, Gabriel Mengisana ( 6736 4368) - who can also
organize visits to the less-frequented community of Aldea, another hour upriver and access-
ible via the La Palma-Chepigana road in the dry season.
By boat
Ask around at La Palma on a weekday and you may be able to catch a
colectivo
piragua
($15).
Hiking
The village trail goes straight into the rainforest ($10); guiding services are $15/
group.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Community accommodation
A traditional house is set aside for visitor accommodation,
with space to hang your hammock or spread a sleeping bag, and a family allocated either to
cook food (which they prefer you to
pro
vide; $10-20/group) or lend you their fire pit and
some pans to prepare your own meals.
$8
/person
Mogué
There's a
Heart of Darkness
feel about entering the
Río Mogué
, enclosed by forbidding walls
of mangroves, flecked with perching white ibis, which eventually clear at a scenic mooring,
ten minutes' walk from the village of
MOGUÉ
. The name derives from Mogadé, a mythic-
al Emberá creature that lived in the mountains and ate people - though Panama City would
seem to have devoured more of the dwindling village population as they leave in search of
employment. Besides a little tourism, agriculture - plantain, yuca and a variety of other fruits
and vegetables - constitutes the economic mainstay of the community, though a minority still
fish or hunt iguanas, agoutis and other small animals with traditional arrows or a gun. Anoth-
er important source of income is basketry - especially masks - for which Mogué is justifiably
renowned.
The focus of community life is the new zinc-roofed
casa comunal
, where on Saturdays or
Sundays the leaders preside over the weekly village gathering. The tri-weekly Evangelical
services are also a draw for a large number of the community, while late afternoon the foot-
ball pitch provides an important social focus for both the men's and women's teams, and vis-
itors are welcome to join in.
ARRIVAL AND ACTIVITIES: MOGUÉ
By boat
Transport to the village makes the journey expensive unless you catch a village boat
($15 one way from La Palma). Enquire at the main jetty as boats leave with the rising tide
most days, but especially Monday and Friday. Otherwise, ring the
presidente de turismo
, Al-
berto Rito ( 6653 3379), to arrange a boat pick-up in La Palma; ask for the cool box to be
brought along, which you can fill with fish, chicken or shrimps from the market for meals;
otherwise your diet will be very limited.
